Ryanair rapped over misleading adverts

Ryanair has been criticised by a watchdog for an advert that offered flights for a price that was not obtainable when you went through its website.

Ryanair: Has been criticised by the ASA over some adverts

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) rapped the budget airline over the advertisement for flights to Dublin costing £27.99, as they were apparently impossible to book at the price quoted because of an additional £6 online check-in fee.

The airline was unable to 'clarify adequately' how the promotional fare could be achieved, the ASA said.

Ryanair was also investigated by the ASA over adverts for 'cheap flights to the sun' that turned out to be to chilly destinations.

The banned adverts, for flights starting at just £8, included a picture of a woman on a sandy beach, wearing a bikini, sunglasses and sipping a cocktail with the slogan: 'Book to the sun now!'

But one of the destinations was Oslo, in Norway, where the average high temperature for February and March - the period of the offer - is 0°C to 4°C.

The ASA noted the maximum temperatures of the destinations advertised were between 11°C and 14°C for the warmest three destinations.

Others with an average of just 6°C to 9°C were Glasgow, Londonderry, Aarhus and Bilund, in Denmark, and Frankfurt, Hamburg and Dusseldorf, in Germany.

The criticism came after Ryanair complained about the 'We charge you less' promotion statement by arch-rival easyJet, which was also slammed by the watchdog.

The easyJet offer, for business fares, sparked anger from its competitor who insisted its own fares were cheaper on a number of routes.

Ryanair's objection was upheld and its rival was ordered not to run the advertisement again in its current form.

However, Michael O'Leary's carrier ended up with the lion's share of the watchdog's fire.

The ASA stated: 'We considered that the average consumer would infer from the claim 'Book to the sun now' and the image of the woman sunbathing, in a bikini, with a cocktail, that the promotion included fares to destinations warm enough to sunbathe in swimwear during the promotional period.

'Because we understood this was not the case, we concluded that the ad was misleading.'

The ASA ruling is not the first time the watchdog has been called in to rule on a dispute between the low-cost carriers.

Last May, it was forced to intervene after easyJet 'denigrated' its rival by suggesting Ryanair did not fly passengers to the destinations they had booked.

In July, a legal row over a Ryanair advertisement which likened easyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou to Pinocchio resulted in the carrier paying out undisclosed libel damages.

Responding to the ASA, a spokesman for Ryanair said: 'Ryanair has noted the ruling.

While easyJet said it believed its competitor did not offer business travellers an equivalent product or fly to the same major airports.
Consequently, it said Ryanair had not been included in the 'We charge you less' comparison.

Accepting the watchdog's decision, a spokesman for the Luton-based airline said: 'easyJet is happy to comply with the ASA's ruling on this technical point.

'We were surprised to hear that Ryanair had concerns over this advertisement as it is the first time that they have ever expressed any interest in the business traveller.'